[SGVLUG] "There are some things WikiLeaks can't do. ..

[jmd]

On Dec 9, 2010, at 11:43 AM, matti wrote:

>
> this is getting rather interesting...
> waiting for the movie to come out...
>
>
> "There are some things WikiLeaks can't do. For everything else,  
> there's Operation Payback,"
>
>
> Is WikiLeaks engaged in 'cyber war'?
>
> '..The battle over the site -- which has come under fire from the  
> United States for publishing private diplomatic communications --  
> escalated this week as apparent WikiLeaks' supporters crashed the  
> websites of PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, which had stopped  
> processing donations to WikiLeaks...
>
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/12/09/ 
> wikileaks.cyber.attacks/index.html?hpt=T2
>
>
>

I would suggest these attacks on various websites is a problem for  
Wikileaks. Wikileaks has denied any connection.

These attacks serve to reframe the argument from the basic argument  
of *freedom of information* and toss it into hackers vs society ..or  
by extension good vs evil. A better article might have been written  
about the numbers of people protesting (or not protesting) by  
canceling their PayPal accounts.

My take on the WikiLeaks question is this a battle for the heart and  
soul of what the *internet* concept and structure is. A decentralized  
method of distributing information.

I see this in the same light as the printing press and the subsequent  
*enlightenment*. This is the same question as open source vs closed  
source.

The status quo will have you believe this CNN article when in fact  
there are two separate questions. I detest mainstream media in the  
USA. I think Julian Assange does too.... and for the same reasons I  
do. It does not serve the public good. (Think Microsoft FUD in the  
early days of Linux.)

jeff